The Moon Goddess' Chosen

389 Goddess of Regret

“His newfound strength got him a decent job as a gladiator amongst the humans. Humans crave entertainment in these dark times. It’s a wonder they are still alive when they are such natural brutes at heart.

Humans are cruel, but the two of them weren’t the same as the others. One was a werewolf while the other was human and it didn’t matter to them one bit. All that mattered was the bond that joined them and nothing else.

A bond of love that was stronger than anything I thought possible for them. He deserved more than he got. In any case, everything was going well for a while until... he was discovered.

I’d been indirectly living in his life, unable to interfere and happened to run into him on his way to the underworld. This mortal, for reasons I’m still dying to understand, agreed to become my immortal husband when I asked him and here we are,” the goddess explained, blowing through the man’s entire life in a few short sentences.

The two of them were speechless after hearing the goddess’s story. Being mortal, they could decipher the look she wore each time she stared at the unconscious gladiator before her.

Seth had sharp features and well-defined muscles that could only be achieved by a seasoned warrior. Despite his appearance, however, he bore a kind expression on his lifeless face. ‘I’d have a better time believing the goddess had been charmed instead,’ Hamedale mentally sighed. He simply couldn’t wrap his head around this whole situation.

The two of them had made the long journey to hear the goddess’s new plans for the war. Nothing could have prepared them for what she actually had to say. That she’d fallen in love... Preposterous! And yet, no matter how much they wished it weren’t true, Seth’s body wouldn’t disappear. He remained there, still and unmoving... as solid as ever. He wasn’t going anywhere.

“What about the war, your Majesty?” Jeanie spoke up in a shaky tone. There was so much wrong with this situation.

“The war will come to an end. Lord Prometheus had already agreed to have the humans meet with the royals and decide on a peace that will grace the two races... No more bloodshed,” Celeste responded.

.....

Hamedale stood up abruptly, “And this...” he visibly struggled for a fitting description, “...excuse of a werewolf is the reason you’ve chosen to end the war?”

“Hamedale, shut up. It’s not our place to question our Lady,” Jeanie snapped at her fellow monarch.

“Of course, it’s not your place Jeanie. You’ve not been taking your duty seriously this whole time. Instead of preparing for war, you’ve been slacking off with your sisters and slowing down in your divine mission,” Hamedale fumed.

The white-haired woman was tongue-tied at the accusation. They’d shared stories on their way to the Origin, but not once had the king mocked what was happening in Sirius, “I am a queen with people of my own. If caring more for their happiness than meaningless war makes me weak and incompetent, then so be it, but I will not have you disrespect our Lady in my presence.”

“And what would a queen as small as you do about it? You barely have the strength to lift a human or lay a finger on your enemy,” the man’s words stung. Surprisingly, they didn’t bring Jeanie down one bit and Hamedale was used to this headstrong woman’s indomitable spirit.

The woman vanished right before his eyes, leaving a small gust of wind in her previous position. Hamedale’s instincts kicked in. The goddess was too slow to stop the argument. Before she knew it, the two of them were fighting right before her.

The king, following his sense of hearing, spun on his heel with his fist outstretched in an arc meant to strike the lightning-fast werewolf attacking him, but he was a second too late, despite how fast he was.

Jeanie’s body vanished right before him before a kick to his back updated his knowledge of her position. Turning to attack only brought him a similar result, this time, a scratch to his face had him grunting in frustration. The wounds started healing immediately and he easily ignored the pain, searching for her next move.

No matter how fast he tried to anticipate her movements or how quickly he reacted, Jeanie always countered and dealt her own damage. The only reason the king was not down yet was that Jeanie’s attacks were like scratches to him. She wasn’t stronger than him and his body could withstand far more than she was able to deliver.

The queen had a speed and agility advantage, which gave her the upper hand, but that wasn’t enough to make Hamedale submit to her. The king might have been slower than her, but he had no intention of losing their duel.

Her attacks did not pack a punch and she continued to assault the king and began aiming for specific points of his body. Jeanie aimed for his knees, face, back, gut and insides of his elbows whilst dashing about his confused form.

The numerous strikes to his weak points were taking their toll and the king dropped to his knees soon, panting with exhaustion. Flailing about after what he thought was her location had not worked for him. If anything, it only made him look like a madman trying to fight off a swarm of bees.

“You claim to be strong, but you can’t even land a single hit on me. Who’s on his knees now, Hamedale?” the blurred royal finally came to a stop in front of the king, a miscalculation on her part. For the king lunged at her and delivered a full-force punch to the gut knocking the air right out of her lungs.

“That’s enough,” Celeste’s voice boomed. Vines erupted from the ground, seizing the king and raising him from the ground before violently pinning him to a tree at the edge of the field of lotuses. The goddess glided over to the coughing woman and waved her hand above her. Her coughing stopped and Jeanie quickly regained her breath and composure.

“Thank you, my Lady,” the woman bowed.

The goddess looked away from her and to the king struggling against the hold of the vines, “Explain yourself, Hamedale.”

Finally realising he had no way out, the king stopped struggling and let his hands go limp, “Before coming here, I was reminded of the reason all this began. I don’t think it’s wrong for you to do what you’re doing, but I don’t think we can just forget what happened either.”

“I said nothing about forgetting I was wronged either. That much is clear, however, the matters between the Man god and I are simply what they are. Having humans die for something their patron god did won’t solve anything. Not to mention, Lord Prometheus apologized and erased the humans of the knowledge that could bring that abomination back into existence.”

“I don’t understand,” the man said through gritted teeth.

Celeste went still and silent for a while, her eyes glazing over while her mind was swept back to the past. Back to a time when she almost found the happiness she’d craved for so long. Everything was going so well for her back then, “The humans were testing something that day. Something perilous and catastrophic and thought there was no one in their testing area. Humans can’t perceive the divine if we do not intend them to, anyway.

My hunters happened to be nearby. The casualties that resulted from this experiment had not been their intention. I was consumed by rage that I cast this curse. Prometheus, instead of arming the humans with more knowledge, robbed them of the very knowledge that could defend them. The knowledge of how to create any more of that... abomination,” the woman explained.

“Do you mean to tell me that you’ve reconciled with the Man god already?” Hamedale asked, allowing himself to finally relax.

“The Man god has not retaliated. He never intended to attack me, I see that now and he’s only given them ways to defend themselves. His creations did and he tried to correct what he did. However, bringing my hunters back is beyond his abilities, so he got rid of what killed them. Nevertheless, I proceeded with my onslaught. And he stood by and watched it happen,” the goddess explained.

“In more ways than one, the man before you showed me the similarity behind the Man god and his creations. They make mistakes, they accept them and they live with the consequences no matter how harsh. They heal, rebuild and love again. It’s a beautiful cycle that makes their short lives worth living. The gods spend ages searching for what they find in less than a century.

They find it so fast. I’d spent so long in search of it, and when I’d just found it, I let my pride and rage get the better of me... and lost everything.”